First Baptist Church
In reading through the book of Matthew, Chapter 13, the following hurdles are presented in response to the parables and situations Jesus addressed. As the end of the year looms closer and closer, it behooves us to think through the following questions regarding our spiritual lives:
1. Are you part of the Kingdom of Heaven? Jesus said the reason He spoke in parables was because those that belonged to Him would understand and those that did not would not.
2. Have you become so comfortable in your Christian walk that you no longer feel the need to grow? The Jewish people Jesus addressed thought they knew God well enough that they did not need the Messiah.
3. Have you become distracted by your pursuit of other goals and activities that there is nothing left to invest in the Kingdom of Heaven?
4. Have the situations of life made you so hard-hearted that you no longer can hear God when he speaks to you?
5. Do you no longer consider the value of following Christ worth the effort needed to live for Him?
6. Have you gotten to the point of only wanting to follow God for the benefits?
7. Are you no longer willing to submit to God’s plowing of your heart?
8. Has loss or hurt caused you to question to goodness of God?
9. Have you begun to live life based on your own understanding?
10. Does heaven no longer excite or motivate you to live for Christ?
11. Do you spend as much time in His word as you used to?
12. Have you only partially obeyed God in a particular area of your life?
13. Do you consider it too hard or inconvenient to live in community with other believers?
14. Do you really trust God with all of your life?
15. Have you lost the job of your salvation?
16. Has your pride gotten in the way of humbling yourself before God?
17. Have you become to accustomed to our world that you have lost your ability to lean on faith?
18. Have you ever truly given your life to Christ?
Spend some time asking yourself these questions, and praying about the answers. God has promised that He will answer when we call to Him and He will tell us wonderful things we have not known (Jeremiah 33:3).